The present invention is related in general to the field of semiconductor devices and processes and more specifically to the design and operation of tape carriers for high density storage and transport of semiconductor devices.
Many semiconductor devices are packed by the manufacturer, and then transported to the customer, in carrier tapes wound onto a reel. Cavities are embossed into the tape to form pockets designed according to industry standards; in each pocket is commonly accommodated one semiconductor device of given size and configuration.
When the carrier tape is covered by a cover tape, industry standards such as EIA 481-1, 481-2, and 481-3 regulate the design of the tape pockets. A number of patents have tried to address the problems of placing an electronic component into the cavities securely and prevent any unforeseen movement of the component which could damage its sensitive parts. Other patents discussed options of covering the cavities for protection and transportation.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,648,136, issued on Jul. 15, 1997 (Bird, xe2x80x9cComponent Carrier Tapexe2x80x9d), the design of a flexible carrier tape for storage and delivery of components, and the advancement mechanism of the tape system are described. Aligned pockets in the tape have an adhesive thermoplastic elastomer on the bottom wall in order to retain the components in the pockets. It is difficult for the proposed system to meet the stringent storage and delivery reliability requirements of advanced semiconductor devices, and to allow easy component removal by the customer for rapid component assembly.
These difficulties are not resolved in the follow-up proposals in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,729,963, issued on Mar. 24, 1998 (Bird, xe2x80x9cComponent Carrier Tapexe2x80x9d), and 5,846,621, issued on Dec. 8, 1998 (Nagamatsu, xe2x80x9cComponent Carrier Tape Having Static Dissipative Propertiesxe2x80x9d). In the latter patent, a layer of static dissipative acrylic polymer is added to the strip portion of the carrier system. The cover is releasably, adhesively bonded to the strip portion, covering a plurality of pockets. The acrylic polymer is also used to reduce the temperature at which the cover is bonded to the strip portion.
The problem of sealing the cover tape to the component carrier tape is addressed by radically opposite approaches in the following two patents: U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,104, issued on Aug. 10, 1993 (Schulte et al., xe2x80x9cCarrier Tape Systemxe2x80x9d), describes a cover strip having a top surface and opposed side walls extending downwardly from the top surface. The opposed sidewalls are spaced apart from each other a distance substantially equal to the width of the base strip. The cover strip further includes retaining means formed integrally therewith for mechanically engaging and holding down thin component parts seated in cavities formed in the base strip. The retaining means is comprised of a pair of spaced apart rail members which are formed coextensive with the cover strip extending longitudinally to the sidewalls and projecting downwardly and outwardly from the top surface thereof. The rail members are flared outwardly at a slight angle toward the respective opposed sidewalls. The proposed solution is expensive, impractical to assemble by the manufacturer and impractical to unload by the customer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,931,337, issued on Aug. 3, 1999 (Ando et al., xe2x80x9cSemiconductor Accommodating Devices and Method for Inserting and Taking Out Semiconductor Devicesxe2x80x9d), describes an embossed tape, wound on a reel, without using the customary top cover tape. The embossed tape has a bottom wall for placing a semiconductor device thereon, two sidewalls upwardly extending from both side edges of the bottom wall, and top walls having an opening. The sidewalls are formed such that the semiconductor device inserted through the opening is held by the sidewalls with the semiconductor device placed on the bottom wall. The arrangement is inflexible for geometrical changes of the device outlines, and the reliability of transportation is questionable.
An urgent need has therefore arisen for a coherent, low-cost method of fabricating a carrier tape, wound onto a reel in high density, with a cover tape reliably sealed to the carrier tape. The method should be flexible enough to be applied for different semiconductor product families, should allow high density packing and tape winding, and should achieve improvements toward the goal reliably inserting and extracting small outline and low profile packages. Preferably, these innovations should be accomplished using the installed equipment base so that no investment in new manufacturing machines is needed.
According to the present invention, a flexible carrier tape system, suitable for housing components and for winding on a reel in high density, is disclosed, comprising an elongated base strip having a plurality of longitudinally spaced cavities with side walls having a step-like groove near the surface around the cavity, comprising further an elongated cover strip having a width matching the width of the cavity including the widths of the grooves, the cover strip sealed onto the base strip so that the cover strip rests on the step-like grooves.
In one embodiment, the sealed cover strip forms a substantially uniform plane with the upper surface of the base strip. The thickness consumed by each tape winding becomes a minimum.
In another embodiment, the cover strip rests in the step-like grooves and also on the top surface of the housed components. Any movement of the components is impeded.
In yet another embodiment, the cover strip bulges around the top surface of the housed components, pressuring them onto the bottom wall of the cavities. Any movement of the components is prevented.
The present invention is related to any products of type and size, which can be stored and delivered in cavities in plastic tapes. A prominent group of these products include electronic components and semiconductor devices. Among the semiconductor devices, components can be found in many integrated circuit families such as standard linear and logic products, processors, digital and analog devices, high frequency and high power devices, and both large and small area chip categories. The invention is equally useful to semiconductor manufacturers and device users, which may be found in cellular communications pagers, hard disk drives, laptop computers and medical instrumentation.
By way of example and using the familiar acronyms for identifying semiconductor devices, the invention applies predominantly to devices from the product families of TSOP, SOIC, SSOP, TSSOP, TVSOP, BGA, rectangular as well as square QFP, TQFP, LQFP, and CSP (chip-scale and chip-size packages); it further applies to SOT23, TO-220, and TO-89 packages, and many more.
It is an aspect of the present invention to provide a technology for maximizing the amount of tape windings fitting on a reel, and thus the amount of product, housed in plastic cavities in the tape, stored and delivered per reel. The aspect is achieved by designing step-like grooves around the storage cavities in the base strip so that the cover strip can rest in these grooves and form a substantially uniform plane with the upper surface of the base strip.
Another aspect of the invention is to provide a method of preventing movement of the stored components without using adhesives. This aspect is achieved by applying the cover strip under slight pressure to the housed component.
Another aspect of the invention is to increase product quality to the customer by eliminating damage due to handling, a common problem in storing and delivering components.
Another aspect of the invention is to introduce packing concepts for a wide variety of components which are flexible so that they can be applied to many product families, especially of electronic and semiconductor types, and are general so that they can be applied to several future generations of products.
Another aspect of the invention is to provide a low-cost, high-speed process for fabrication with minimum movement of parts and product in the assembly equipment, and reach these goals without equipment changes and using the installed fabrication equipment base.
The technical advances represented by the invention, as well as the aspects thereof, will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the novel features set forth in the appended claims.